(1) In relation to the general police
power, the governing bodies of municipalities have the following powers:
(a) To regulate the police of the municipality, including employing certified
peace officers to enforce all laws of the state of Colorado notwithstanding section
16-2.5-201, and pass and enforce all necessary police ordinances;
(b) To do all acts and make all regulations which may be necessary or
expedient for the promotion of health or the suppression of disease;
(c) To declare what is a nuisance and abate the same and to impose fines
upon parties who may create or continue nuisances or suffer nuisances to exist;
except that a municipal ordinance may impose liability on the owner of real
property for a nuisance committed on the property by a tenant in lawful possession
of the property only if the municipality notifies the property owner and tenant of the
nuisance before a fine or other liability is imposed;
(d) (I) To provide for and compel the removal of weeds, brush, and rubbish of
all kinds from lots and tracts of land within such municipalities and from the alleys
behind and from the sidewalk areas in front of such property at such time, upon
such notice, and in such manner as such municipalities prescribe by ordinance, and
to assess the whole cost thereof, including five percent for inspection and other
incidental costs in connection therewith, upon the lots and tracts of land from
which the weeds, brush, and rubbish are removed. The assessment shall be a lien
against each lot or tract of land until paid and shall have priority over all other liens
except general taxes and prior special assessments.
(II) If an assessment is not paid within a reasonable time specified by
ordinance and a municipality complies with the recording and certification
requirements specified in subsection (1)(d)(III) of this section, the amount of the
unpaid assessment may be certified to the county treasurer who shall collect the
assessment, together with a ten percent penalty for cost of collection, in the same
manner as other taxes are collected. The laws of this state for assessment and
collection of general taxes, including the laws for the sale and redemption of
property for taxes, apply to the collection of such assessments.
(III) A county treasurer shall accept for collection pursuant to subsection
(1)(d)(II) of this section and section 31-20-105 a lien levied pursuant to subsection
(1)(d)(I) of this section if:
(A) Within four months of abating a nuisance pursuant to subsection (1)(d)(I)
of this section, a municipality files for recording a notice of lien with the county
clerk and recorder of the county in which the real property is located; and
(B) Within one year of filing the notice of lien for recording specified by
subsection (1)(d)(III)(A) of this section, a municipality certifies the amount of the
unpaid assessment for which the lien was levied to the county treasurer of the
county in which the real property is located.
(e) To prevent and suppress riots, routs, affrays, noises, disturbances, and
disorderly assemblies in any public or private place;
(f) To prevent fighting, quarreling, dog fights, cock fights, and all disorderly
conduct;
(g) To suppress bawdy and disorderly houses and houses of ill fame or
assignation within the limits of the municipality or within three miles beyond,
except where the boundaries of two municipalities adjoin the outer boundaries of
the municipality; to suppress gaming and gambling houses, lotteries, and
fraudulent devices and practices for the purpose of gaining or obtaining money or
property; and to regulate the promotion or wholesale promotion of obscene
material and obscene performances, as defined in part 1 of article 7 of title 18,
C.R.S.;
(h) To restrain and punish loiterers, mendicants, and prostitutes;
(i) To prohibit and punish for cruelty to animals;
(j) To establish and erect jails, correction centers, and reform schools for the
reformation and confinement of loiterers and disorderly persons and persons
convicted of violating any municipal ordinance, to make rules and regulations for
the government of the same, and to appoint necessary officers and assistants
therefor;
(k) To use the county jail for the confinement or punishment of offenders,
subject to such conditions as are imposed by law, and with the consent of the board
of county commissioners;
(l) To authorize the acceptance of a bail bond when any person has been
arrested for the violation of any ordinance and a continuance or postponement of
trial is granted. When such bond is accepted, it shall have the same validity and
effect as bail bonds provided for under the criminal statutes of this state.
(m) (I) To regulate and to prohibit the running at large and keeping of
animals, including fowl, within the municipality and to otherwise provide for the
regulation and control of such animals including, but not limited to, licensing,
impoundment, and disposition of impounded animals.
(II) In case any municipality neglects or refuses to pass an ordinance in
conformity with this paragraph (m), anyone impounding an animal running at large
within the limits of said municipality shall notify the state board of stock inspection
commissioners, and said animal shall be disposed of by said board as provided in
article 44 of title 35, C.R.S.
(n) To regulate and license pawnbrokers as provided in section 29-11.9-102;
(o) To enact and enforce ordinances prohibiting gambling and the use of any
gambling device, as the terms are defined in section 18-10-102, in a park, on a public
way, or on a street; except that in enacting and enforcing the ordinances, a
municipality, notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, may also
prohibit social gambling in or on parks, public ways, or streets. Nothing in this
subsection (1)(o) shall be construed as prohibiting pari-mutuel betting or wagering
under article 32 of title 44.
(p) (I) To adopt reasonable regulations for the operation of establishments
open to the public in which persons appear in a state of nudity for the purpose of
entertaining the patrons of such establishment; except that such regulations shall
not be tantamount to a complete prohibition of such operation. Such regulations
may include the following:
(A) Minimum age requirements for admittance to such establishments;
(B) Limitations on the hours during which such establishments may be open
for business; and
(C) Restrictions on the location of such establishments with regard to
schools, churches, and residential areas.
(II) The governing body of the municipality may enact ordinances which
provide that any establishment which engages in repeated or continuing violations
of regulations adopted by the governing body shall constitute a public nuisance. In
addition to the power provided for in paragraph (c) of this subsection (1) the
governing body of the municipality may bring an action for an injunction against the
operation of such establishment in a manner which violates such regulations.
(III) Nothing in the regulations adopted by the governing body of the
municipality pursuant to this paragraph (p) shall be construed to apply to the
presentation, showing, or performance of any play, drama, ballet, or motion picture
in any theater, concert hall, museum of fine arts, school, institution of higher
education, or other similar establishment as a form of expression of opinion or
communication of ideas or information, as differentiated from the promotion or
exploitation of nudity for the purpose of advancing the economic welfare of a
commercial or business enterprise.
(q) (I) To control and limit fires, including but not limited to the prohibition,
banning, restriction, or other regulation of fires and the designation of places where
fires are permitted, restricted, or prohibited.
(II) Nothing in this paragraph (q) shall be construed to preempt or supercede
state, tribal, or federal law concerning the control, limitation, or other regulation of
fires described in this paragraph (q).
(r) May independently initiate and bring civil actions to enforce:
(I) Parts 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, and 14 of article 12 of title 38; and
(II) Beginning January 1, 2026, parts 4, 8, and 10 of article 12 of title 38.
(2) (a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a contract between a
municipality and a private attorney who the county retains in relation to a civil
action described in subsection (1)(r) of this section shall specify an hourly rate, not
to exceed five hundred dollars per hour, at which the municipality compensates the
private attorney.
(b) A municipality may use an amount equal to or less than ten percent of
any monetary award received as a result of a civil action commenced pursuant to
subsection (1)(r) of this section to cover the costs of that civil action, including
attorney fees.
(c) In commencing a civil action pursuant to subsection (1)(r) of this section, a
municipality may confer with any housing authority created pursuant to title 29 that
serves the municipality in whole or in part.